AHA Statement on CY 2025 OPPS Final Rule

Ashley Thompson
Senior Vice President, Public Policy Analysis and Development
American Hospital Association

November 1, 2024

Medicare's sustained and substantial underpayment of hospitals has stretched for almost two decades, and today's final outpatient rule only worsens this chronic problem. The agency's final increase of less than 3% for outpatient hospital services will make the provision of care, investments in the health care workforce, and addressing new challenges, such as cybersecurity threats, more difficult. These inadequate payments will have a negative impact on patient access to care, especially in rural and underserved communities nationwide.

The AHA fully shares CMS' goals of improving maternal health outcomes and reducing inequities in maternal care. While we appreciate that the final rule provides hospitals with additional implementation time and greater flexibility in how they meet certain requirements, we remain concerned about CMS' excessive use of Conditions of Participation to drive its policy agenda and the potential risk for these requirements to inadvertently reduce access to maternal care. We believe a less punitive and more collaborative approach would be more effective given that the key drivers of maternal health outcomes are highly complex and involve multiple stakeholders. The AHA remains committed to working with the Administration and other stakeholders to advance a full range of solutions to improve maternal outcomes.

###